Raleigh, N.C. — Both the state House and Senate voted Wednesday to override Gov. Pat McCrory's veto of House Bill 405, a law that proponents say protects private property rights but opponents say muzzles whistleblowers.

Dubbed an "ag-gag" measure by its critics, the bill gives businesses the right to sue employees who expose trade secrets or take pictures of their workplaces. Animal rights groups say the measure is aimed at curbing the kind of undercover investigations that have exposed abusive practices in factory farms and slaughterhouses.

"Whistleblowers are protected in this bill," Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, said on the floor of the Senate during a brief debate Wednesday afternoon.

Senators voted 33-15 to override the veto less than hour after members of the House voted 79-36 to pass the measure not withstanding the governor's objections. The bill will become law Jan. 1.

When McCrory vetoed the bill, he said he agreed with the goal of curbing the practice of people who get hired merely so they can film undercover or gather corporate documents.

"While I support the purpose of this bill, I believe it does not adequately protect or give clear guidance to honest employees who uncover criminal activity," McCrory wrote in his veto message.

Journalism groups and the AARP made similar arguments, saying that the bill would apply to all employers, not just the agriculture industry. Industry workers, they say, could be discourage from coming forward with evidence of elder abuse.

"To give one relevant example, allegations surfaced last year that employees at Veterans Affairs facilities in North Carolina had been retaliated against for whistleblowing," wrote Steven Nardizzi, chief executive of the Wounded Warrior Project. "As an organization dedicated to honoring and empowering injured service members, we are concerned that this legislation might cause wrongdoing at hospitals and institutions to go unchecked."

House sponsors said that critics of the bill were wrongly characterizing it.

"It doesn’t stop good employees from reporting illegal activities to other authorities," Rep. John Szoka, R-Cumberland, said on the House floor.

Those "authorities" would include law enforcement and regulatory agencies. It's unclear what might happen if a worker were to expose a practice to a journalist and whether that journalist would be liable. That's among the technical flaws opponents have said they wold like to fix.

"Some tweaking of this may well be in order," said Rep. John Blust, R-Guilford. "I hope we can find a vehicle for it this session, but I’m not willing to along with what I believe is misinformation."

It's not uncommon, Blust and Szoka pointed out, for lawmakers to pass separate "technical corrections" bill to fix legislation that has already passed.

But Rep. Becky Carney, D-Mecklenburg, said that the governor's veto had given lawmakers the chance to start over and get the bill right to begin with.

"If there is a major doubt, we have a chance to slow it down," Carney said. "Let's take it back. Let’s get it right. Fix those corrections in a real bill that we can all wrap our hands around."

In the end, Republican backers of the measure said it was important to protect businesses from bad actors and voted to pass the bill over McCrory's objections.

"We need to vote for this because it has gotten out of control what some so-called employees have done to businesses," said Rep. Pat McElraft, R-Carteret.

The move drew a quick rebuke from animal rights groups.

"Not only will this ag-gag law perpetuate animal abuse, it endangers workers’ rights, consumer health and safety, and the freedom of journalists, employees, and the public at large to share information about something as fundamental as our food supply. This law is bad for consumers, who want more, not less, transparency in food production," said Nathan Runkle, president of Mercy For Animals.

Lia VallinaJun 5, 2015

Thank you for covering this issue. I am so disappointed that they overrided this veto. I feel that ag gag would not have been posed if factory farms did not have anything to hide. I hope other states choose to protect the public's right to know what happens in facilities like factory farms.

Eric HammondJun 4, 2015

Legitimate whistle blowers still have all the rights and protections they have always had. Bobby Correct

ummm - oh, THAT's RIGHT... you can report wrongdoing by your employer, but just DON'T get PROOF POSITIVE! yeah, that's good, why not let your area foxes guard your henhouse - see how well THAT works out for ya!

Melissa NodererJun 4, 2015

I find it astounding that State Senator Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, is a veterinarian and he promoted this AG-Gag bill to the hilt. I think his brain has been seriously damaged from inhaling hog lagoon waste odors.

Lisa Marie FieldsJun 4, 2015

Well now I know who I am voting for in the next election, these idoit law makers just made that easy for me. This should have NEVER passed!!!

Jack HandyJun 4, 2015

It doesn't really matter. Anyone working to uncover abuse issues isn't worried about the lawsuit and are already well protected by lawyers of animal rights groups.

Bobby CorrectJun 4, 2015

View quoted thread

Now I'm confused. Wasn't there a bill just passed that said that people who work in assisted living facilities that if they find abuse it's a crime not to report it. Yet with this bill, you can be sued for doing so. What am I missing?

— Posted by Jay Tanenbaum

You're missing a lot. You can still report abuse without fear of lawsuits. All this bill does is protect businesses from people who are hired by the company, but also being paid by another group to find problems at the company (by any means possible). Legitimate whistle blowers still have all the rights and protections they have always had.

Eric HammondJun 3, 2015

Our so called lawmakers are allowing people to break the law. It is all about $$$. Carol Smith

actually, it does not apply to "people" only their big-wig corporate contributors. Is anyone really shocked that this passed? given the GOP's hatred of "job killing regulations" - like property rights, trespassing laws mineral rights, breach of contract laws (the list goes on) they've passed bills legalizing the violation of each and every one of the above, and for what? the personal profit of a bigwig contributor

Brian HillJun 3, 2015

View quoted thread

Now I'm confused. Wasn't there a bill just passed that said that people who work in assisted living facilities that if they find abuse it's a crime not to report it. Yet with this bill, you can be sued for doing so. What am I missing?

— Posted by Jay Tanenbaum

The ag gag law will be toast the second it finds itself before a federal court (Hello 42 U.S.C. § 1983). Utah is already facing a similar lawsuit for their ag gag law and their motion to dismiss was denied.

The only thing this will do is cost the tax payers money in costly legal battles.

Jay TanenbaumJun 3, 2015

Now I'm confused. Wasn't there a bill just passed that said that people who work in assisted living facilities that if they find abuse it's a crime not to report it. Yet with this bill, you can be sued for doing so. What am I missing?

Carol SmithJun 3, 2015

Our so called lawmakers are allowing people to break the law. It is all about $$$.